Federer fell agonisingly short of a record eighth Wimbledon title on Sunday as the Swiss star was beaten 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) 5-7, 6-4 by Novak Djokovic in one of the great All England Club finals.

The 32-year-old's defeat left him with his 2012 Wimbledon triumph as his only Grand Slam crown in his last 18 attempts.

His last major success outside the grass court Grand Slam came at the 2010 Australian Open and by the time he returns to Wimbledon next year Federer will be almost 34.

Yet the 17-time Grand Slam champion is convinced his strong showing at Wimbledon proves he will continue to compete with Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray for the sport's major prizes for the foreseeable future, especially while much-touted youngsters like Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori continue to underachieve.

"I don't feel a huge threat from them. There's many good players from 5 or 6 to 20. But they're also somewhat exchangeable from 30 or 40," Federer said.

"There's a lot of dangerous players around there. But I feel like if I'm playing well I can control the field to a degree,” further said Federer

"Clearly there's never a guarantee. But I do believe the top guys are the ones we know and who are still going to be deciding outcomes of the bigger tournaments, like the Masters 1000s and the Grand Slams," added the Swiss star.

Bulgaria's Dimitrov, 23, and Canada's Raonic, 23, made it to their first Grand Slam semi-finals at Wimbledon, but both came up short against Djokovic and Federer respectively.

In contrast, Nadal won his first Grand Slam aged 19, Federer at 21 and Djokovic at 20.

"We all made the breakthrough much earlier than most of the guys," Federer said.

"Rafa was incredible as a teenager. I was better at 21. That's when I started to make my rise. The other guys we're talking about are all 22, 23 and have been already on tour for five years," further added Federer.